Barnes. Pdf

 
Chapters 
60
Jews to be landed on the Isle of Pines, a former penal colony. The captain turned the St Louis round and headed south again. 
Passengers brought their luggage up on deck. That evening, over dinner, the spirits of the gala evening returned. 
The next morning, three hours' sailing away from the Isle of Pines, the ship received a cable: permission to disembark had 
not yet been confirmed. The passenger committee, who throughout the crisis had been sending telegrams to prominent 
Americans asking them to intercede, could think of no one else to contact. Someone suggested the Mayor of St Louis, 
Missouri, thinking that the consonance of names might perhaps evoke sympathy. A cable was duly despatched. 
The Cuban President had asked for a $500 surety per refugee, plus a subsidiary guarantee to cover food and lodging during 
the period of transit on the Isle of Pines. The American lawyer had offered (according to the Cuban government) a total of
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$443,000, but further stipulated that this sum was to cover not just the refugees on the St Louis but also 150 Jews on two other 
ships. The Cuban government found itself unable to accept this counter-proposal and withdrew its own offer. The lawyer for 
the Joint Committee responded by agreeing in full to the original Cuban demand. The government in return regretted that its 
offer had already been terminated and could not now be revived. The St Louis turned round and headed north for a second 
time. 
As the ship began its return voyage to Europe, the British and French governments were informally sounded out to see if 
their countries might take the Jews. The British answer was that they would prefer to view the present difficulty in the wider 
context of the general European refugee situation, but that they might be prepared to consider possible subsequent entry of the 
Jews to Britain after their return to Germany. 
There had been unconfirmed or impracticable offers from the President of Honduras, from an American philanthropist, 
even from a quarantine station in the Panama Canal Zone; the ship steamed on. The passenger committee addressed its appeals 
to political and religious leaders throughout Europe; though its messages now had to be shorter, since the shipping line had 
withdrawn free cabling facilities. One suggestion made at this time was that the strongest swimmers among the Jews should 
jump overboard at intervals, thus forcing the St Louis to stop and turn round. This would slow its progress towards Europe and 
allow more time for negotiations. The idea was not taken up. 
German radio announced that since no country would agree to accept the boat-load of Jews, the Fatherland would be 
obliged to take them back and support them. It was not difficult to guess where they might be supported. What's more, if the St 
Louis was forced to unload its cargo of degenerates and criminals back in Hamburg, this would prove that the world's supposed 
concern was mere hypocrisy. Nobody wanted the shabby Jews, and nobody therefore had any right to criticize whatever 
welcome the Fatherland might extend to the filthy parasites on their return. 
It was at this time that a group of younger Jews attempted to 
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hijack the ship. They invaded the bridge, but were dissuaded from further action by the captain. For his part, he conceived a 
plan of setting fire to the St Louis off Beachy Head, which would compel the rescuing nation to take his passengers in. This 
desperate scheme might even have been tried. Finally, when many had given up hope and the liner was nearing Europe, the 
Belgian government announced that it would admit 200 of the passengers. In the days that followed, Holland agreed to take 
194, Britain 350, and France 250. 
After a voyage of 10,000 miles, the St Louis docked at Antwerp, 300 miles from its port of departure. Relief workers from 
the four countries involved had already met to decide the distribution of the Jews. Most of those on board possessed the right 
of eventual entry into the United States, and had therefore been ascribed a number on the US quota list. It was observed that 
the relief workers competed for passengers with low numbers, since these refugees would leave their countries of transit the 
soonest. 
In Antwerp a pro-Nazi youth organization had distributed handbills bearing the slogan: `We too want to help the,Jews. If 
they call at our offices each will receive gratis a length of rope and a long nail.' The passengers were disembarked. Those 
admitted to Belgium were put on a train whose doors were locked and windows nailed shut; they were told that such measures 
were necessary for their own protection. Those admitted to Holland were immediately transferred to a camp surrounded by 
barbed wire and guard dogs. 
On Wednesday, 21st June the British contingent from the St Louis docked at Southampton. They were able to reflect that 
their wanderings at sea had lasted precisely forty days and forty nights. 
On 1st September the Second World War began, and the passengers from the St Louis shared in the fate of European Jewry. 
Their chances rose or fell depending upon the country to which they had been allotted. Estimates of how many survived vary. 
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